Wiper blade assembly for roller fountain dampener

ABSTRACT

The roller fountain dampener for a lithographic printing press has a wiper blade assembly mounted within the pan adjacent the opposite side wall thereof. Each blade assembly comprises supports fixedly mounted within the pan and an arm adjustably mounted on the support for movement toward and away from the transfer roller of the press. An elastomeric wiper blade is fixedly secured on each arm for wiping engagement with opposite ends of the transfer roller to thereby control movement of the dampening fluid at both roller ends. Dampening fluid build-up is therefore prevented at the ends of the metering roller of the press as well.

United States Patent Hutton et al.

WIPER BLADE ASSEMBLY FOR ROLLER FOUNTAIN DAMPENER Inventors: Ralph E.Hutton, Java Center; R.

Kent Hilborn, Cheektowaga, both of NY.

Assignee: Moore Business Forms, Inc.,

Niagara Falls, NY.

Filed: Dec. 23, 1974 Appl. No.: 536,022

US. Cl. 101/148; 101/363 Int. Cl. B41F 7/32 Field of Search lOl/350,351-352,

lOl/363, 364, 365, 148, 207, 208, 210

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS l/l96O Nitchie et al. lOl/3503,352,317 11/1967 Dahlgren lO1/148X Primary ExaminerJ. Reed FisherAttorney, Agent, or Firm-Watson, Cole, Grindle & Watson ABSTRACT Theroller fountain dampener for a lithographic printing press has a wiperblade assembly mounted within the pan adjacent the opposite side wallthereof. Each blade assembly comprises supports fixedly mounted withinthe pan and an arm adjustably mounted on the support for movement towardand away from the transfer roller of thepress. An elastomeric wiperblade is fixedly secured on each arm for wiping engagement with oppositeends of the transfer roller to thereby control movement of the dampeningfluid at both roller ends. Dampening fluid build-up is thereforeprevented at the ends of the metering roller of the press as well.

3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures Oct. 14, 1975 U3. Patent WIPER BLADEASSEMBLY FOR ROLLER FOUNTAIN DAMPENER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1.Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to lithographicpresses, and more particularly to a wiper blade assembly provided forthe roller used in transfer-ring dampen ing fluid from the pan to aprinting surface of the press.

2. Description of the Prior Art In US. Pat. No. 3,259,062 to Dahlgren, alithographic press operation is generally disclosed as making use of aparticular dampening fluid. The present invention relates to a similartype press and to the dampening control aspect thereof. US. Pat. No.2,915,007 to Johnson et al. relates to a dampening device forlithographic presses. Dampening is controlled by the location of theductor roll and the specific-structural assembly of the press includingsuch roll. A U.-S. Pat. No. 3,504,626 to Worthington includes adampening control system for a printing press making use of a flexiblestrainer and a wiper blade arrangement. Further among the prior art isan adjustable wiper blade assembly as set forth in US. Pat. No.3,312,366 to Gentile. Here, the contact pressure of various wiper bladeedges with respect to the transfer roller may be regulated so as todetermine the quantity of moistening fluid transferred by the roller.

In each of the presses disclosed in the abovementioned patents, no meansfor controlling dampening is shown as provided by the present inventionand functioning in the manner to be hereinafter described.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION- In accordance with the present invention,wiper blade assemblies are provided for controlling movement ofdampening fluid at both ends of the transfer roller of a printing press.Each such assembly comprises supports mounted within the fountain or panwith arm members extending toward the transfer roll and being adjustablymounted on the supports for movement toward and away therefrom: Wiperblades are secured to the free ends of thearm members and the wiperblades have edges for contacting the surface of the roller near oppositeends thereof, these edges being parallel to the rotational axis of theroller and extending a short distance from the roller opposite endstoward the center thereof. The pressure of the wiper blades against thesurface of the roller can therefore be adjusted. Besides controllingmovement of the dampening fluid at both transfer roll ends, dampeningfluid build-up is also prevented on the ends of the metering roller ofthe press which is disposed in rolling contact with the transfer roller.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a meansfor controlling the dampening fluid movement at opposite ends of thetransfer roller of a printing press with the use of wiper bladeassemblies mounted within the fountain and at a location below therotational axis of the transfer roller, such assemblies being easy toinstall and economical to manufacture as well as efficient in theiroperation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS" FIG. 1 is a side elevational viewillustrating the invention in its relation to several of the rollers ofa lithographic pri-nting press shown in general outline;

FIG. 2 is a'top plan view of the fountain and wiper blade assembliesmounted therein in relation to the transfer roller,'taken generallyalong line 22 of FIG. 1; and

,FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a wiper blade assembly of theinvention taken generally along line 33 of FIG. -1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In especially muIti-colorlithographic presses, there has been a continual problem with dampeningfluid build-up on the ends of the metering roller which is disposedinrolling contact with the transfer roller provided for transferring thedampening fluid from the fountain or pan to a printing surface of thepress. Such build-up of the dampening fluid splashes and adheres forexample to outer surfaces of the pan, to guide bars provided for thepress, to blanket cylinders and to the transfer cylinders thereof. Thisdampening fluid also tends to splash onto the printed sheets travellingthrough the press thus requiring press stoppage and possibly resultingin spoiled press sheets.

Referring to .the drawings wherein like reference characters refer tolike and corresponding parts throughout the several views, a portion ofa lithographic or other planographic printing press is showndiagrammatically in FIG. 1 as including a plate cylinder 10, a formroller 11 a metering roller 12 and a transfer roller 13. The platecylinder is in rotative contact with a blanket cylinder (not shown)which is in turn in rotative contact with an impression cylinder (alsonot shown) when the press is in operation. Further details of the pressand its operation are believed not necessary since they are standard andwell known among those having knowledge in this art. Typically, formroller 11 is of resilient rubber in rotative contact with the platecylinder, this roller as well as other similar form rollers being incontact with the plate cylinder for distributing the ink fed to'theserollers from a conventional ink supply source and to distribute same ona plate (not shown) arranged about the plate cylinder.

Transfer roller 13 is in rotative contact with both the form roller andmetering roller 12, each of these rollers rotating about theirrespective axes 11a, 12a and 13a in anormal manner.

A dampening fluid pan 14 extends parallel to the plate cylinder and hasa quantity of dampening fluid (not shown) therein. Transfer roller 13 ispreferably metallic and may have a smooth chrome surface which rotatesin the fluid and picks it up from the pan.

Water has been used as a dampening fluid although a highly volatilealcohol such as ethyl alcohol, methyl alcohol or isopropyl alcohol ispreferred.

Pan 14 has a bottom wall 15 and side walls 16 extending upwardlytherefrom. End walls 17 and 18 interconnect with the side walls andextend also upwardly of the bottom wall. As seen in FIG. 1, bottom wall15 of the pan typically slopes downwardly toward end wall 17 and has aforwardly sloping end wall 18.

A wiper blade assembly generally designated 19 is mounted in the pan,one such assembly being located adjacent one of the panside walls andthe other wiper blade assembly being located adjacent the other pan sidewall. Each assembly comprises a support block 21 welded or otherwisefixedly mounted on bottom wall 15 of the pan inwardly of each side wall16. Each block is disposed parallel to their respective side walls, andeach has a continuous groove 22 provided along the top surface thereof.An elongated arm member 23 is mounted for sliding movement within eachgroove 22. Each arm'member is provided with elongated slots 24 throughwhich threaded fasteners such as bolts 25 extend for threaded engagementwith tapped openings provided in the support blocks. Accordingly, thearm members are adjustably supported for movement toward and away fromtransfer roller 13.

As clearly shown in FIG. 1, each arm member is provided with a jaw 26atlits'forward end for the reception of a resilient wiper blade 27. Thewiper blades, which may be of neoprene or some other elastomericmaterial, are secured in place by means of threaded fasteners such asscrews 28. 1

ltcan be seen-that each. support block of the wiper blade assemblies hasa sloped bottom wall 29 conforming to the slope of bottom wall of thepan. Also, the heightofeach support is such that the wiper blades arelocated at a level below the rotational axis of transfer roller 13.'Eachwiper blade has a leading edge 31 which is moved into' contact with thesurface of the transfer roller as the arm members are adjusted forwardlyinto such position. These wiper blade leading edges extend from theopposite ends 32 of the transfer roller and toward the center thereof.The length of the wiper blades including their leading edges is, asclearly shown in FIG. 2, substantially less than the length of thetransfer roller. The size of the wiper blades is such that the surfacearea of the transfer roller near its opposite ends only is wiped by theblades since it has been found that dampening fluid build-up normallyoccurs at the opposite ends of the transfer roller, thereby causing sucha fluid build-up to be transferred to the opposite ends of the meteringroller. However, with the adjustable wiper blades of the invention, thedampening fluid on the surface of the transfer roller adjacent itsopposite ends can be simply and effectively controlled so as to avoidany transfer of this fluid build-up to the metering roller. Thisdampening fluid control feature is significant for dampening fluidcontrol on especially multi-color lithographic presses.

I Dampening fluids other than for example isopropyl alcohol haverecently 'come into use as alcohol substitutes. However, when using suchalcohol substitutes, it has been found necessary to increase the speedof the chrome transfer roller 13 by as much as 50% over the transferroller speed normally used during press operations using isopropylalcohol. Of course, the increased speed of the transfer roller dependson the size of the press, the imagecoverag'e and the type ofink orvarnish used for "the press. The greater speed at which the transferroller rotates, the greater is the possibility of dampening fluidbuild-up at opposite ends of the transfer end metering rollers therebycompounding the initial problem of dampening fluid build-up.

Obviously, many. modifications and variations of the present inventionare possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to beunderstood that within the scope of the appended claims the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

1.1n a printing press having an elongated fountain for containingdampening fluid, said fountain having a bottom wall and spacedupstanding side walls and end walls, a transfer roller located abovesaid fountain for transferring dampening fluid to a printing surface,said transfer roller extending between said side walls and having itsopposite ends located inwardly thereof, said transfer roller beingrotatable about an axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of saidfountain, wiper blade assemblies mounted in said fountain at one side ofsaid roller, each said assembly comprising supports fixedly mounted onthe inner surface of said bottom wall adjacent each said side wall, armmembers mounted on said supports for movement toward and away from saidroller, and elastomeric wiper blades secured to said arm members andextending toward said roller, said blades having free edges lyingparallel to said roller axis and extending therealong from said oppositeends of said roller toward the center thereof, said edges togetherhaving a length substantially less than the length of said roller,whereby said wiper blades are capable of wiping the surface of saidroller adjacent said ends thereof to thereby control movement of thedampening fluid at said ends thereof.

2. 1n the printing-press according to claim 1, wherein said arm memberslie along axes perpendicular to said roller axis-,and said arm membershaving elongated slots lying along said perpendicular axes, fastenersextending through said slots and engaging with said supports foradjusting the movement of said arm members.

3. In the printing press according to claim 1, wherein said wiper bladeedges are located below said roller aXlS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENT NO.3,911,816 DATED October 14, 1975 INVENTOR(S) 1 Ralph E. Hutton and R.Kent Hilborn It is certified that error appears in the aboveidentifiedpatent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In the Title Page, correct the named assignee to read F. N. BurtCompany, Inc., Buffalo, New York-- Column 1, line 24, "5,512,366" shouread 5,3

Signed and Scaled this Twenty-first Day Of December 1976 [sun] A ties t:

RUTH C. MASON C. MARSHALL DANN Arresting Office Commissioner oj'Parentsand Trademarks

1. In a printing press having an elongated fountain for containingdampening fluid, said fountain having a bottom wall and spacedupstanding side walls and end walls, a transfer roller located abovesaid fountain for transferring dampening fluid to a printing surface,said transfer roller extending between said side walls and having itsopposite ends located inwardly thereof, said transfer roller beingrotatable about an axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of saidfountain, wiper blade assemblies mounted in said fountain at one side ofsaid roller, each said assembly comprising supports fixedly mounted onthe inner surface of said bottom wall adjacent each said side wall, armmembers mounted on said supports for movement toward and away from saidroller, and elastomeric wiper blades secured to said arm members andextending toward Said roller, said blades having free edges lyingparallel to said roller axis and extending therealong from said oppositeends of said roller toward the center thereof, said edges togetherhaving a length substantially less than the length of said roller,whereby said wiper blades are capable of wiping the surface of saidroller adjacent said ends thereof to thereby control movement of thedampening fluid at said ends thereof.
 2. In the printing press accordingto claim 1, wherein said arm members lie along axes perpendicular tosaid roller axis, and said arm members having elongated slots lyingalong said perpendicular axes, fasteners extending through said slotsand engaging with said supports for adjusting the movement of said armmembers.
 3. In the printing press according to claim 1, wherein saidwiper blade edges are located below said roller axis.